The present invention relates to a sheets feeding mechanism, and more particularly to a sheets feeding mechanism having a ball-and-socket joint structure.
Automatic document feeders are generally applied in office machines, e.g. facsimile machines, copy machines, printers or scanners.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional automatic document feeder. The conventional automatic document feeder includes a main body 11, a roller 12, a paper dividing plate 13 and a compressible spring 14. The sheets of the document are fed from a document-feeding tray to the paper dividing plate 13 one by one and further to a document-receiving tray of the office machine for the following process. The feeding is driven by the friction between the sheets and the roller 12 and regulated by the compressible spring 14.
The compressible spring 14 is used for supporting the paper dividing plate 13 and regulating the feeding of the sheets in the conventional automatic document feeder.
However, the conventional automatic document feeder has several drawbacks. When the paper dividing plate 13 is insufficiently supported by the compressible spring 14 or the force from the roller 12 is not uniformly applied on the paper dividing plate 13, multiple sheets are fed once from the document-feeding tray to the document-receiving tray. Furthermore, the tolerance is controlled with difficulty in the fabrication and/or the assembly process of the conventional automatic document feeder. When the tolerance is not well controlled, the force from the roller 12 would not be uniformly applied on the paper dividing plate 13, so that multiple sheets would be fed once from the document-feeding tray to the document-receiving tray.
Therefore, the present invention provides a mechanism for automatically and adjustably feeding sheets to overcome the foresaid drawbacks of the conventional automatic document feeders.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for automatically and adjustably feeding sheets.
In accordance with the present invention, the mechanism includes a paper dividing plate, a roller for picking the sheets and a controller.
A channel is formed between the paper dividing plate and the roller, and the sheets are driven by friction between the roller and the sheets to pass through the channel.
The controller has a first end engaged with the paper dividing plate and a second end as a fulcrum for the paper dividing plate.
In accordance with the present invention, when an unbalanced force from the roller is applied on the paper dividing plate, the paper dividing plate pivots on the fulcrum to adjust the unbalanced force.
In addition, the mechanism further includes a compressible spring engaged with the paper dividing plate, wherein when the sheets pass through the channel, said sheets are compressed by the paper dividing plate through the compressible spring to be closely in contact with the roller.
The compressible spring and said controller are in a first side of the paper dividing plate, and the roller is on a second side of the paper dividing plate.
The second end of the controller and a main body of the mechanism form a ball-and-socket joint structure for promoting the controller to pivot, wherein the paper dividing plate is further driven by the controller to pivot on at least two dimensions.
In accordance with the present invention, the ball-and-socket joint structure further includes a ball and a seat.
The ball is disposed at the second end of the controller, and the seat included in the main body of the mechanism is used for receiving the ball and having a smooth sphere in contact with the ball in the interior of the seat, wherein the ball smoothly moves around in the smooth sphere.
In addition, the seat further includes two holding elements disposed oppositely and forming a bottle-shaped gap for receiving the ball.
The bottle-shaped gap has a funnel-shaped opening for guiding the ball into the bottle-shaped gap.
Furthermore, the paper dividing plate has a rubber slice on one side of the paper dividing plate facing the roller for promoting the sheets to be closely contacted with the roller.
Preferably, the controller and the paper dividing plate are integrally formed.
Preferably, the sheets are scan manuscripts.
Preferably, the device could be a facsimile machine, a copy machine and a scanner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for automatically and adjustably feeding sheets.
The mechanism includes a paper dividing plate, a roller and a ball-and-socket joint structure.
The roller is used for picking the sheets, wherein a channel is formed between the paper dividing plate and the roller, and the sheets are driven by friction between the roller and said sheets to pass through the channel.
The ball-and-socket joint structure is engaged with the paper dividing plate.
In accordance with present invention, when an unbalanced force from the roller is applied on the paper dividing plate, the ball-and-socket joint structure promotes thexe2x80x94paper dividing plate to move and adjust the unbalanced force.
The mechanism further includes a compressible spring engaged with the paper dividing plate, wherein when the sheets pass through the channel, the sheets are compressed by the paper dividing plate through the compressible spring to be closely in contact with the roller.
In accordance with present invention, the ball-and-socket joint structure pivots on at least two dimensions.
In addition, the ball-and-socket joint structure further includes a ball and a seat.
The ball is engaged with the paper dividing plate, and the seat included in a main body of the mechanism for receiving the ball and having a smooth sphere contacting with the ball in the interior of the seat, wherein the ball smoothly moves around in the smooth sphere.
In addition, the mechanism further includes two holding elements disposed oppositely and forming a bottle-shaped gap for receiving the ball.
The bottle-shaped gap has a funnel-shaped opening for guiding the ball into the bottle-shaped gap, and an arc-shaped neck for the ball smoothly moving around therein.
Preferably, the ball and the paper dividing plate are integrally formed.
Furthermore, the paper dividing plate has a rubber slice on one side of the paper dividing plate facing the roller for promoting the sheets closely contacted with the roller.
The present invention may best be understood through the following descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: